iPhone Fingerprint Lock – A reliable security feature?

iPhone Fingerprint Lock – A reliable security feature?

Recently launched iPhone 5s is equipped with the Touch ID fingerprint scanner in an initiative to make the phone a secured device but is it really so? Apple has also stated that the Touch ID information will be stored on the phone and not on the iCloud in order to make it a more secured feature. The users will simply need to swipe their finger on the phone’s home button as the scanner is placed within it. The Touch ID will serve to authenticate the iTunes and App Store purchase activities of the user. The Touch ID will coexist with the passcode feature and users can opt to use either of the two to use their phones or make purchases from the Apple store.

For those concerned with the storage of the fingerprint information, the Touch ID will store fingerprint data and not the images of the fingerprint. This could make it slightly difficult for those who wish to misuse the phone especially when it’s not theirs.

With more buzz going around this feature, an Apple representative has stated that the Touch ID is powerful enough to reach the inner live layers of the skin through the sapphire crystal sensor placed in a steel ring embedded in the button for this purpose.

Though fingerprints have been used earlier and are in use even today, you will find that they are not a very relied upon security feature as fingerprints are left all over the place and can be easily replicated and misused.

And while writing this article, a hacker group based in Germany has successfully hacked iPhone 5s fingerprint scanner Touch ID which speaks a great deal about its enhanced security feature.

About Author

Sushant is a product enthusiast and a tech blogger. Based in Mumbai, he is passionate about 'Digital Marketing' and 'Tech'. He drinks too much of coffee and sleeps too little. Then he wonders if there's a correlation.